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Your World Today

President Bush Talks About Iraq; Al Qaeda Releases Tape; Palestinian Cease-Fire Holding

Aired December 20, 2006 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Victory in Iraq is achievable. It hadn't happened nearly as quickly as I hoped it would have.

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR, YOUR WORLD TODAY: Winning, losing or something in between. President Bush seeks to clarify his views on the U.S. war effort in Iraq.

COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR, YOUR WORLD TODAY: An inquest in Ipswich, the coroner looks for clues in the murders of five English prostitutes.

CLANCY: Men's brains are bigger than women's. But does that make them smarter? Controversial research is raising eyebrows, not IQs.

MCEDWARDS: It's 12 noon in Washington. 8:30 p.m. in Tehran. Hello and welcome to our report, broadcast around the globe, I'm Colleen McEdwards.

I'm Jim Clancy. From Washington, to London, to Baghdad, wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Long on ideals, short on specifics. The U.S. president talking about a new strategy for Iraq, while admitting that the U.S. efforts, at least this year, have been in his words, "thwarted".

MCEDWARDS: That's right. George W. Bush says he's considering all of the options from Washington. As his new Defense secretary takes stock of the situation from Baghdad.

President Bush gave an end-of-the-year news conference. He says he favors an overall increase in U.S. military troop strength, but says he has not decided yet whether or not to send more troops to Iraq.

CLANCY: Now, on that point, Mr. Bush says he's waiting to hear from the new Defense secretary, Robert Gates, who is visiting commanders on the ground in Iraq, on this, just his third day on the job.

MCEDWARDS: All this as U.S. troops hand over security to Iraqi forces in Najaf, calling it a major step toward strengthening the government. All right, let's get more now on that news conference just a short time ago by President Bush. Our White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano was there. And she joins us now with details of this -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, YOUR WORLD TODAY: Good afternoon to you, Colleen.

President Bush today in his news conference noting, of course, the seriousness of the situation in Iraq. And his news conference, of course, customary for the end the year. Something that president does every year. But it's coming at an especially difficult time for this president, facing intense political pressure, with the opposition party set to take control of Congress next month.

Now, the president emphasized, that he had not made a final decision yet, when it comes to whether or not he will surge the number of U.S. forces, temporarily, into Baghdad to help stabilize the situation there.

And the president today tried to clarify a comment he made yesterday in an interview with "The Washington Post" when he was asked whether the U.S. was winning when it comes to Iraq. The president pointed to something that General Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, that we are not winning, and we are not losing. Well, today, the president tried to explain that comment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I believe that we are going to win. I believe that -- by the way, if I didn't think that, I wouldn't have our troops there. That's what you got to know. We're going to succeed.

My comments yesterday reflected the fact that we're not succeeding nearly as fast as I wanted, when I said at the time. And that conditions are tough in Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, the president also would not answer a question that he labeled as a dangerous hypothetical on whether or not he would go ahead and overrule his commanders on the ground, his generals on the ground, if in fact they opposed the idea of temporarily surging U.S. forces into Iraq.

The president simply saying that he does, of course, value the opinions of those commanders, but if, in fact, he does decide to go ahead and overrule what they want, Colleen, as you know that would be in direct opposition to what he has said before, time and time again, that when it comes to U.S. troop levels in Iraq, he does in fact listen to his commanders on the ground -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: You could tell, couldn't you, Elaine, he didn't want to go anywhere near that question.

QUIJANO: Absolutely now. MCEDWARDS: He basically said that's a hypothetical and I'm not going there. But he doesn't have a whole lot of time to make some kind of a decision, does he?

QUIJANO: No, absolutely not. The thing is his Defense secretary, his new Defense secretary, Robert Gates, is going to be giving the president some input presumably so the president can then go ahead and make any announcements on any changes to Iraq policy early next year.

Of course, the expectation had been a few weeks ago that this announcement and changes to Iraq policy might come in fact before Christmas. But one of the reasons cited by the president himself is that he wanted to give his new Defense Secretary Robert Gates a chance to take a look firsthand at the situation, at the situation on the ground before making any final decisions on what to do about Iraq.

MCEDWARDS: And he's taking that opportunity now. Elaine, thanks very much for that.

Coming up later in the program, Jim Clancy is going to have a roundtable discussion with some leading journalists to really pick apart some of the things that were said in this news conference, especially on the issue of Iraq. That's coming up -- Jim.

CLANCY: In a taped broadcast on Al Jazeera television Wednesday, Al Qaeda's second in command, Ayaman al Zawahiri, said Palestinian elections would not free the Palestinians or their land and deal a blow in the holy war against the Israeli occupation.

Al Zawahari says those trying to free the Islamic lands through elections, based on secular constitutions will, in his words, not free a grain of Palestinian sand, but will choke jihad.

Now, another person not happy in the situation in the Palestinian territories is Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. His first public comments voiced displeasure on the internal fighting underway in Gaza. He says, he'd be happy to see a ceasefire. Mr. Olmert's wish is, for the moment, granted. Gunman from both Hamas and Fatah, now appearing to hold the cease-fire, a new one that they put in place. A previous truce was broken, of course, and Ben Wedeman has more on whether this one has any hopes of sticking.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, YOUR WORLD TODAY (on camera): The ceasefire went into effect at 11:00 p.m. and does, until now, seem to be holding relatively well. There was one major incident overnight in which two member's of Palestinian Preventative Security, who are loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas, were killed in an ambush by, it's believed, Hamas gunmen. Five others were wounded in that attack.

This morning, there was a funeral for those two dead police members, more clashes during that funeral. But by and large, life does seem to be going back to normal. People were out on the streets, stores are opened. Schools, however, are still closed, given that several children were wounded in the crossfire and gun battles between Hamas and Fatah.

We're still hearing talks that are negotiations between the two factions on trying to work out their problems, trying to maintain the calm, and possibly to discuss the formation of a national unity government.

But, essentially, the problems are -- that sparked this latest outbreak of fighting are still there. Mahmoud Abbas is still insisting on holding these early parliamentary elections and presidential elections. Hamas still says they will not let them go ahead.

So even though it's more calm on the streets than it has been recently, the political deadlock continues. I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Gaza.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: British Prime Minister Tony Blair has called on Arab governments to rein in the threat from Iran. Mr. Blair was speaking in the United Arab Emirates, his latest stop on a regional tour. He says moderate leaders must be empowered against extremists.

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TONY BLAIR, PRIME MINISTER OF BRITAIN: Here are elements of the government of Iran, openly supporting terrorism in Iraq, to stop a fledgling democratic process. Trying to turn out a democratically elected government in Lebanon. Flaunting the international community's desire for peace in Palestine, at the same time, as denying the Holocaust, and trying to acquire nuclear weapons capability.

And yet, a huge part of world opinion is frankly almost indifferent. It would be bizarre if it weren't so deadly serious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCEDWARDS: Well, Iran has responded to the comments calling them hateful. And Mr. Blair has his detractors in Iraq as well, not to mention at home. Robin Oakley joins me now, live from London, with more on this pretty difficult time for the prime minister, Robin.

I mean, there he is going around the region calling Iran one of the biggest threats to instability in the region ever. What's this really all about?

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT, YOUR WORLD TODAY: Well, this is partly Tony Blair's rather desperate effort now to build himself some kind of legacy before he leaves office, in the summer of next year.

He's sworn that he will devote all of his efforts to achieving any progress he can on peace in the Middle East. He sees settlement between Israel and the Palestinians as the key to that. He's trying to do everything he can to rally moderate Muslim and Arab opinion, towards the cause of getting some kind of peace in the Middle East. The difficulty for Tony Blair is that a number of people aren't really listening to him very strongly anymore because they know he's on the way out. Some people in the area are dismissing him because they see him as George Bush's poodle.

And this really makes it very difficult for Tony Blair to achieve the kind of results he's after. Remember, he's been talking for 18 months, two years, perhaps, of a conference of all moderate Muslim opinion in the area. But we've never yet seen that, Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Speaking of that whole lapdog issue, there's a pretty stinging comment out there right now. And just to set this up a little bit before we talk about, Iraq's Vice President Tariq al Hashemi, essentially said Blair was brainwashed by President Bush on the issue of Iraq. He said a few months ago, that they had a meeting, he and Blair had a meeting, and they had a meeting of the minds on a timetable for troop withdrawal. And he essentially got Blair to agree and to be on board for that, but then it never happens. Why? Well, let's listen to what al-Hashemi had to say.

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TARIQ AL HASHEMI, IRAQ VICE PRESIDENT: Your president made some sort of brainwashing for Mr. Blair? Mr. Blair is back to square one, he's just back to his adamancy that, that Mr. Hashemi, we can't announce that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCEDWARDS: Tell me that's a joke or serious, or what it is, but it's not flattering. Any reaction to this?

OAKLEY: It's certainly not flattering. I think I would be inclined to give Tony Blair the benefit of the doubt on this occasion. Remember, that he's one of those politicians who likes to please people. He likes to get on with people.

So when somebody like Al Hashemi comes to visit him in Downing Street, Tony Blair will be working to accentuate the positive and to agree with him wherever he can. He may well have listened to his views, and said there's something in that. And he may have said that is something he would indeed discuss with President George W. Bush.

But in a sense, remember that 19th century politician, if somebody who said, he's like a cushion, he bears the imprint of he who last sat upon him. All politicians do that to a degree when they're trying to please people. I think that's probably what Tony Blair did here.

Because every time, we've been discussing this with him out in the public, he said you can't announce a timetable for leaving Iraq. And he's always said that British troops will stay to the end, to the point where Iraqi forces can take over, Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Right. Robin Oakley, in London for us. Thanks a lot, Robin. All right, let's get you a check now of some other stories making news around the world.

CLANCY: We're going to begin the survey in China. Six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program continuing right now in the Chinese capital of Beijing, without a breakthrough on lifting U.S. financial restrictions against Pyongyang. The U.S. envoy there did hint at some progress and announced additional side meetings with his North Korean counter part.

Pyongyang is demanding an end to financial embargo before it seriously considers even beginning to curtail it's nuclear program.

MCEDWARDS: A British man convicted in Austria of denying the Holocaust will serve the rest of his three year sentence on probation. A court there granted an appeal by British author David Irving, Wednesday. He's already spent just over a year in custody.

CLANCY: Humanitarian officials say attacks on a town in Sudan's western Darfur region have nearly paralyzed aid operations. Armed men seized vehicles and communications equipment. That then forced the evacuation of 71 aid workers. It is not clear which specific group carried out the attacks.

MCEDWARDS: All right. Just ahead here on YOUR WORLD TODAY --

CLANCY: We're going to take you live to Ipswich, England, where the coroner is concluding inquests into the killing of five prostitutes.

MCEDWARDS: And, Jim, we all know what women have over men when it comes to intelligence, right? A new study actually says just the opposite. I'll I believe it when I see it.

CLANCY: Plus, a second time is the charm. The Donald gives Miss USA another shot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCEDWARDS: Welcome back to CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: That's right. This is the program where we try to bring our viewers around the world, and in the United States, abreast of the latest developments in the most important international stories of the day.

Let's take a look at some of those stories. A new ceasefire in Gaza, but not without sporadic fighting.

The new U.S. Defense secretary arriving in Iraq, as President Bush is talking about his future plans for that country.

And new details about the second suspect arrested in the murders of five British prostitutes -- Colleen. MCEDWARDS: That's where we want to go next, Jim, to Ipswich, England. The coroner there says that at least one of those prostitutes died from asphyxiation. Meanwhile, police are still questioning two male suspects in connection with this case. Alphonso Van Marsh is tracking this for you us. And joins us now with more details -- Alphonso.

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT, YOUR WORLD TODAY: That's right, tonight here in Ipswich, police are going through -- hundreds of police officers, I should say -- are going through evidence collected from two locations, two homes, as you mentioned, two suspects are arrested in connection on suspicion of those killings.

Those killings of five Ipswich area women, as you mentioned, all of them known prostitutes. It's important to note that police are not naming names at this point. However the suspects are identified, locally, as Tom Stephens, and Stephen Wright.

Now, as we mentioned a little bit earlier Mr. Stephens, who worked in a grocery store, was taken into custody on Monday. And Mr. Wright was taken into custody on early Tuesday morning, I should say. It's important to note that those who knew him, a few people that we talked to said that they were completely shocked by this amazing development.

Something else that developed today that we should talk about, briefly, a little bit more about how the legal system works here. Police can hold suspects for up to four days and then they have to make a decision. Do they charge the suspects, do they release them on bail, or do they let them go free?

And Colleen, you mentioned a little bit earlier, on some details on that inquest, a coroner announcing today that they did open that inquest and then adjourn it, for the murder victims. The coroner announcing the cause of death for two of them, as you mentioned, one was asphyxiation, the second one, the cause of death was noted as a compression of the neck. The tests that came back, the coroner said, was not conclusive on those two other victims. The investigation continues, Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Alphonso, are they saying anything more about these two suspects? Any speculation? Anyone talking about whether they were working together allegedly? Separately? Or exactly what the scenarios that the police are working on here?

VAN MARSH: Well, our viewers should understand that there are some reporting restrictions for journalists working in the UK here. There has been a lot of speculation, particularly in the local press. But in terms of facts coming from the police, they are keeping details very close to the chest at this point.

MCEDWARDS: Right.

VAN MARSH: What we do understand is that both of these suspects are being held at undisclosed locations here in Ipswich. Hopefully, we expect to hear more details from police, as they try to end this very, very tragic story. This story that has this entire community in shock, especially during this holiday season. People very nervous, hoping that there is some resolution soon, Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: All right. Alphonso Van Marsh, thanks very much.

CLANCY: An interesting case. Remarkable case, really. We're going to continue to follow that.

In the meantime, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

MCEDWARDS: Just ahead, building up from ground zero. A very special foundation laid in place for a very special building.

CLANCY: And then, mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the smartest of them all? A vexing battle of the sexes, Colleen and I will be back, with some arm wrestling. Find out who's the winner.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TONY HARRIS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: And hello, everyone. I'm Tony Harris at the CNN Center in Atlanta. More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes. First, a check of stories making headlines in the United States.

Denver, in the deep freeze. A serious winter storm is moving across parts of Colorado. Denver is bracing for heavy snowfall and blizzard warnings are posted for much of eastern Colorado.

Crews are trying to keep moving, but portions of I-70 and other roads have already been closed. Airlines have started to cancel dozens of flights scheduled for later this afternoon.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: The search slows on Mt. Hood; two climbers still missing after nearly two weeks. Search crews scaling back their efforts to find Brian Hall and Jerry Cooke. Today, the weather was expected to take another nasty turn and that could bring a complete halt to the search. Hall and Cooke have been on the mountain for 12 days. A third climber Kelly James, was found dead Sunday. Hall's sister says she still hasn't given up hope.

President Bush, he concedes a year of setbacks in Iraq, and looks to victory in the future. This morning, he held a wide-ranging news conference, wrapping up the year. He acknowledged insurgents have derailed efforts to stabilize Iraq, and vowed to, quote, "ask more of our Iraqi partners". He also called for bolstering U.S. military might worldwide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have an obligation to ensure that the military is capable of sustaining this war over the long haul, and performing the many tasks that we ask of them. I'm inclined to believe that we need to increase in the permanent size of both the United States Army and the United States Marines. I've asked Secretary Gates to determine how such an increase could take place and report back to me as quickly as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Those comments coming from President Bush as his new Defense secretary gets a firsthand look at the situation in Iraq. Robert Gates, in Baghdad right now, just days after taking charge of the Pentagon. He says, he's there to listen and learn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I think it's very important for me to hear firsthand candid, honest assessments, from our commanders on how to proceed in Iraq. Particularly, since they'll be the ones to implement whatever decisions are made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The Iraq war, at the cross roads now. Public support at an all-time low. Here's the latest CNN poll conducted with Opinion Research Corporation. According to the survey, fewer than one in three Americans favor the U.S. war in Iraq. Two-thirds oppose it. The poll also asked American adults what is needed for U.S. strategy and tactics in the war? And one in four called for a complete overhaul of the policies. Almost half called for major changes; one in four say only minor changes, or no changes at all are need.

A surprise discovery, a cleaning crew at a North Carolina airport finds a disoriented man sitting in a Delta jet. Gregory Wester (ph) arrested and charged with trespassing and illegal possession of a prescription drug. He had to scale a seven-foot barbed-wire fence to get to the plane. Officials say he was not a threat to passenger safety, but a flight from Raleigh to Cincinnati was canceled.

A celebrity utters a profanity during an awards show, indecency or free speech? That is at the center of a court hearing today. Broadcasters are taking on the FCC. The federal appeals court case involves two incidents at a 2002 broadcast of the "Billboard Music Awards". Singer Cher used the F word. And in a 2003 "Billboard" show, reality star Nicole Ritchie used two profanities.

But the roots of the case stem from singer Bono's use of the F word during a 2003 Golden Globes broadcast. The FCC ruled the word wasn't indecent in that instance, but later the panel reversed its decision. Broadcasters say the FCC enforcement is inconsistent and unconstitutional.

Ahead in the "Newsroom", a look at President Bush's call to increase the size of the U.S. Army. We will hear from the Army's Vice Chief of Staff Richard Cody.

Meanwhile, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break. I'm Tony Harris. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

MCEDWARDS: Well, a British think tank is calling Tony Blair's foreign policy a failure. Chatham House says the prime minister failed completely to influence U.S. policy, especially in Iraq. This criticism comes as British forces accelerate their training of Iraqi forces to take control of their own country.

Tim Hewitt reports now from Basra.

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TIM HEWITT, ITV REPORTER (voice-over): To British soldiers, the streets of Basra are heavy with menace. Everyone here is a potential enemy; no one is to be trusted. But this is the briefing for a counterinsurgency operation built on trust. For the first time, Iraqi troops will play a leading role. It is a tense affair. The Iraqis have put on ski masks to hide their faces for fear of reprisals. But they are securing the streets around the home of a wanted insurgent.

(on camera): The militias and the armed gangs are always going to be a part of life in Basra. The question is, can the Iraqi army control them? And will they be any less of a target for those militias than the British are? And British soldiers removing a haul of captured weapons in this raid, are never safe here as clear when we talked to their battle group commander.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basra remains, I think it's fair to say, a lawless and a dangerous place.

HEWITT (voice-over): Dick Barton was a (INAUDIBLE) detective in Sussex. Now he's in charge of restructuring the peace force in Basra, the other key element in the security handover. These Iraqi officers are responsible for fighting corruption, a job which makes them targets. Several have been kidnapped.

CONSTABLE DICK BARTON, ADVISER TO THE IRAQI POLICE: It's a very high-risk environment for them, but they've taken it on, and they really have courage to come forward, and they want to see a better Iraq.

HEWITT: British troops distrust the Basra police, believing they frequently helped the insurgents. The police themselves are eager to impress. This was a demonstration of their anti-terrorism capabilities. But are they ready to work unchecked and unsupported?

MAJOR MOHAMMED JAFFER, BASRA POLICE: We need more time, because our ability to control the situation not well now. We need more help and more equipment.

HEWITT: And so the British soldier are in the line of fire. They fear that talk of withdrawal may make things worse. But armed groups jostling for power will be anxious for bragging rights about who drove the troops out. Kim Hewitt, ITV News, Basra.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Let's take a little bit of a closer look. We have heard so much about President Bush seeking a new strategy in Iraq. We want to bring in the -- some of our guests here that really have been looking at this as well, but from an international perspective: Christian Malard, senior foreign analyst with French Television channel 3, Nadia Bilbassey of Al-Arabiya television. She's their Washington correspondent. And Peter Spiegel, the L.A. Times television correspondent.

Nadia, let me begin with you. We've heard so much about this new way forward in Iraq. How much confidence is there out there in the Arab world that this administration, that this president, can come up with a strategy that can change anything in Iraq?

NADIA BILBASSEY, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, "AL-ARABIYA": Not much to be honest. I mean, We did hear about this news strategy, but the track record does contradict what's happening on the ground. So if you talk to ordinary Iraqis on the street and to government officials, regardless of their different backgrounds, whether their Shiites or Sunnis, you don't really think that any increase of the troops is going to be the magical solution to what's happening in Iraq right now.

So we want to say in general there's not much high expectation, but at least people acknowledge that this administration has changed its position and no longer saying that the situation is fine and we're winning the war. We heard from President Bush today saying that actually we might not be winning the war, although they're not losing. But at least there is a realistic way of looking at the situation in Iraq, to come up with a new strategy from a fresh perspective.

CLANCY: Christian Malard, there in Paris, I mean, the view from there about what the U.S. administration is going through right now.

Christian, there were some comments that were made not that long ago, saying that France was the friend that tried to stop us from driving drunk and going into Iraq; we didn't listen to them.

MALARD: Well, this is true. But at the same time, I understand when the president is saying that we cannot make any predictions, we are in a crucial dilemma right now. It's going to be difficult when you see that the American troops are in the middle of a real quagmire.

Now, if you ask me after what the president said, if I am optimistic, I think when the president says let's work on reconciliation of Shiite and Sunni, I think it's unfortunately wishful thinking, because we are in the middle of a civil war, and that's what we think in France, President Chirac and the French government. And today, the Shiites, the majority who have been so much ill treated under Saddam Hussein, by the Sunni minority, want to take their revenge, and there is no way I think we can have a real reconciliation. At the same time I understand -- I agree with the president when he says we cannot retreat, because I quote him, we will embolden the radicals and the extremists. So we are in the middle of a quagmire. It's difficult to get out of it. And at the same time, do we have any political solution? Because we cannot have any military solution, only a political.

CLANCY: The point you that hit on there, Christian, one of the points that President Bush conceded. Why is perhaps the insurgency succeeding on one point. He looks at it and he says, in this area, this is the biggest trouble spot. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: Clearly one aspect of this war that has not gone right is the sectarian violence inside Baghdad, you know, a violent reaction by both Sunni and Shia to each other that has caused a lot of loss of life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Peter Spiegel of "The Los Angeles Times," there are already reports coming out that indicate that this administration is talking to people like Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, the spiritual guide, if you will, for all the Shia in Iraq, and perhaps changing some strategy here. There's got to be something to isolate the extremists, and the Iraqis are beginning to see that?

PETER SPIEGEL, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT, "L.A. TIMES": Well, I mean, there is this mantra that we hear in Washington now about there is no military solution in Iraq. That is indeed true. But there's also grim realization that in order for this political reconciliation to happen there has to be security on the ground. That is why we're seeing a lot of debate on the military strategy that goes along with this effort to bring the different factions together politically. It's sort of the type of thing that you can't really shake hands politically if your people are shooting each other.

So there is this argument going on within the Pentagon that this was never actually thought as a counter-insurgency. If you increase the number of troops, if we actually adapt tactics that are more sort of the "hearts and minds" tactics, that really haven't been implemented, even three years on, that will help quell the violence, and it will allow the space that this political reconciliation can actually happen.

CLANCY: You know, Nadia, there is a report just out this week by International Crisis Group that really hits out at the neighbors in the region, and says, you know, you're creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, and that prophecy is that it's going to be the worst-case scenario in Iraq. So then instead of supporting a weak, but still somewhat unified Iraqi government, the outsiders are supporting individual factions, and this includes Iran, including helping one faction against the other, and really pushing the violence there. Is that the feeling in the Arab world? BILBASSEY: Very much so. I mean, if you look at the scenario what happened after the American invasion of Iraq, you will see actually the victorious party coming out of this war is Iran to many analysts, because if they look at the situation, they get rid of two archenemies, Saddam Hussein on one side and the Taliban one the other side. And we know that the majority of people in Iraq are Shias, and therefore they affiliate, whether it's culturally or religiously and therefore it's easier for them ...

CLANCY: Nadia, the Arabs are worried about that. That a lot of people say the Iranians can't really afford to have the kind of chaos that they have among the Shia inside Iraq either. They could end up losing.

: That is true. The perspective from the region that as you say, most of them are Sunni Arabs, and therefore they're really scared of the rise of the Shiites, especially in the countries that they they have minorities of Shiites in their own countries.

But saying that, of course, Iran -- any country does not want to have (INAUDIBLE). If you take the scenario even to the Israeli prime minister today, he said he doesn't want to see this fighting between Hamas and Fatah on the ground because ultimately it does threaten them.

But saying that, obviously, they want stability. Because the price for stability is to have some kind of deal and negotiation with the super power that's on the ground which is the Americans.

CLANCY: Christian Malard, is anybody nervous that President Bush is beginning to talk, he is talking about -- we need to enlarge the size of the U.S. military?

Just even beyond this policy decision about do you increase troops short-term or not. When you look at this increase in overall troop numbers, people may wonder what's this going to mean for U.S. foreign policy and militarism within that policy?

MALARD: President Chirac and the French government are not convinced that reinforcing (INAUDIBLE) the U.S. troops will be the solution. They would like a political solution and not a military one. This is what the president says in this country here.

At the same time, the question is here, should we have to talk to Iran? Everybody is aware of the fact that Iran is fueling the Shiite insurgency against the Sunnis. Not only inside Iraq, but inside the whole Middle East.

Now, we are in a war, this is what we think here. A war between the Shiites, pushed by Iran, against the Sunnis all over the (INAUDIBLE) world. And at the same time, we have this problem, as you know, Jim, with the nuclear , the Iranian nuclear program.

So with these two things, the question is, should we have to talk to the Iranians which is emerging one way or the other as the general power? This is the question. Cool down the things, talk to the Iranians if they want to talk, and see what can be expected from that.

CLANCY: All right. Some people think it comes down to American resolve in Iraq. And President Bush had something to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They can't run us out of the Middle East. That they can't intimidate America. They think they can. They think it's just a matter of time before America grows weary and leaves. Abandons the people of Iraq, for example. And that's not going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: And that is not going to happen. Peter Spiegel, the view from the Pentagon there that you cover every day, they're at a very difficult juncture here. Nobody wants to lose, that's for sure. But, how realistic are they about what the options really are?

SPIEGEL: Well, that point that Bush brought up, this issue of resolve. That issue has influenced the discussion going on in the Pentagon right now because of the specter of Vietnam. This is exactly what happened in Vietnam.

It took four to five years from basically '65 to '68 to get the strategy right. This is the view of a lot of military thinkers. That in '68, Vietnamization under President Nixon, this was actually the right way to go. There was a lot of talk of military advisers, things we're talking about now. Flooding the zone and increasing troops.

And it was the lack of American support that forced Nixon to withdraw combat troops that saw the whole thing collapse. Now I'm not saying I endorse that argument, but that is certainly the belief amongst a lot of military thinkers, that without American resolve, that even if we get the strategy right, even if we get a new commander in Iraq, we get a new strategy unveiled next month -- even if we get everything right that the American public support falls, anything that they try do will come from naught. Because we will lose public support and American troops will have been taking home for political reasons.

CLANCY: Lady and gentlemen, I have to go right around here -- I only have only got a few seconds left -- and I want to ask you guys a question before we have to go.

Peter, I'll start with you -- right now, who does success really hinge on? Is it what the Americans do or is it what the Iraqis do?

SPIEGEL: Well, you know, that is the open question. You're increasingly hearing that it is the Iraqis fault. That if Iraqis don't step up and get the reconciliation on, it's their fault, let's get out of there.

But the fact of the matter is, you're hearing more voices, particularly in the Pentagon and some parts of the administration that that's a cop-out. That is a recipe, that is laying the groundwork for us to get out of there, wash our hands of it and say you know, it's all they're fault they can't get their act together. And there's a movement now to make sure the U.S. sort of stands up and takes the role in this thing.

CLANCY: All right. Very quickly, Nadia.

BILBASSEY: In everyone's hands the Iraqi government needs to be strengthened. The American administration needs to admit failure and look for a new strategy. The neighboring countries need to understand that their security ultimately depends on Iraq. And the international community has to support it in everyone's hands I would say..

CLANCY: Christian Malard, the final word.

MALARD: The Western world cannot allow itself to have an American failure in Iraq. We have to share the burden one way or the other to find some solutions. I know a long time ago, Senator Warner at the defense commission said to the French secretary of defense (INAUDIBLE) the French have a big experience of Middle East, Europe, I mean Arabic world. If you have help us, you are welcome. And I think we have to be all together find an honorable exit of Iraq for our American friends.

CLANCY: All right. Christian Malard, Nadia Bilbassey, and Peter Spiegel, I want to thank each one of you. You know, it's a very good discussion. Very lively and some good thoughts there. All right. Thanks to them and thanks to you for staying with us. Don't go away. We'll be right back with more of YOUR WORLD TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Welcome back to CNN International.

MCEDWARDS: Seen live in more than 200 countries and territories all around the globe. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: Now, are men smarter than women? Don't hit me. At least that's what one guy says and I've got to say, I agree with him.

MCEDWARDS: Oh, why am I not surprised there? But other researchers we should point out say it's a dumb idea and bad science.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is smart, but maybe not smart enough not to get caught up in the whole debate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kathryn Monkman (ph) and Gaurav Puri are a good match. Both had near- perfect undergraduate GPAs, and both are second year med students at the Schulich School of Medicine in Western Ontario.

GAURAV PURI, MEDICAL STUDENT: We're both pretty much equally intelligent. I would say that Kathryn is a little more intelligent than I am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say he's a flatterer.

GUPTA: So confident they are equal, they agreed to take a little test for us, graded by Professor Phil Rushton. He is the psychologist who ignited a new round in the who's smarter, men or women, debate.

PHIL RUSHTON, PROFESSOR: When you extract the general factor of intelligence, males on average score 3.64 I.Q. points higher than women.

GUPTA: Rushton's bold conclusion that men have higher I.Q.s is based on his study of the SAT scores of 100,000 17- and 18-year-olds, 50,000 male, 50,000 female. Now, if you think one sex would naturally do better on math or verbal, Rushton says forget it, that he factored out the bias, finding men, on average, outscored women by nearly four I.Q. points.

RUSHTON: Once you start getting out to I.Q. levels of 115 or 130, what you need for the highest job, you're going to get proportions of 60/40, 70/30, 80/20 of men over women.

GUPTA: Rushton's critics charge his conclusions are skewed, and he has an agenda.

REBECCA COULTER, GENDER STUDIES EXPERT: We have a very long history of science being used for political purposes, and I think this is just another example of that.

GUPTA: Are there really any innate sex differences? This is a human brain on display at the Mental Illness and Neurodiscovery or Mind Institute. One of the country's top brain researchers tells me that as far as I.Q. goes, men and women are equal.

DR. RICHARD HAIER, U.C. IRVINE BRAIN RESEARCHER: The areas of the brain related to intelligence in women tend to be more in the front. In men, they tend to be more in these side areas. Intelligence in general is normally distributed and equally distributed in men and women.

GUPTA: Now, back to our highly unscientific quiz. Gaurav scored a perfect 10 out of 10. Kathryn missed just one question. But does she think Gaurav or any of her male colleagues are smarter because they're men?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would have to say no.

GUPTA: Scientists at the Mind Institute say someday brainscans may replace I.Q. tests altogether. It may be worth revisiting the issue then.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Don't think we settled that one.

MCEDWARDS: Not sure it's a good thing. I don't feel any smarter. I feel confused.

Miss USA may be accused of not being too smart, though.

CLANCY: Well, still she did get a second chance despite tarnishing her crown. But do we believe her tearful statement of regret? New Yorkers weigh in. Stay with us. We'll have that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCEDWARDS: Well, she tarnished her tiara in the tabloids, but it is not the end for Miss USA.

CLANCY: For, as Donald trump knows, the only story better than a rise and fall is a rise and a fall and a rise.

MCEDWARDS: Out of the ashes, Jeanne Moos has this scandalous saga.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She went from the beauty pageant runway to the New York City media gauntlet.

QUESTION: Tara, are the allegations true?

MOOS: Apparently some were, admitted a tearful Miss USA.

TARA CONNER, MISS USA: I want to apologize to my family if I've put any disgrace upon you.

MOOS: There were things you never expected to hear coming out of Miss USA's mouth.

CONNER: I wouldn't say that I'm an alcoholic.

DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MOGUL: She's agreed to go into rehab.

MOOS (on camera): Think of it as a New York Christmas story, a story of alleged sin and televised redemption.

(voice-over): First there were the stories of wild partying, under-age drinking and an allegedly failed drug test for cocaine. Pageant owner Donald Trump summoned Tara Conner, her heels clicking on the marble of Trump Tower.

While an army of press waited, Trump got her side of the story behind closed doors, fully prepared to say what's written on the hats of his employees, you're fired. And then...

TRUMP: Tara is going to be given a second chance.

CONNER: I've had a very big blessing bestowed upon me. And you will never know how much I appreciate Mr. Trump for saving me on this one.

MOOS: All of this is in the atrium of Trump Tower with tourists gawking from the balconies and press shooting from the escalators. And when the Donald delivered her from evil, there was a smattering of applause. Tara stepped away to returned to once again don our Miss USA sash, an unexpected outcome.

(on camera): What do you think he decided?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heave-ho.

MOOS: He kept her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With him, it's hard to tell.

TRUMP: Tara is going to become the great comeback kid.

MOOS (voice-over): Not since Vanessa Williams gave up her crown because of some "Penthouse" photos in 1984...

VANESSA WILLIAMS, ACTRESS: And I must relinquish my title as Miss America.

MOOS: ... has there been such hoopla over a tiara.

CONNER: My personal demons are my personal demons.

MOOS: And though Tara kept her tiara...

CONNER: I swear I will not let you down.

MOOS: ... skeptics abound.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are two things that don't work in this world of ours. One is anger management, the other is rehab. She'll be back.

MOOS: Reporters wanted to know about stories Miss USA had been seen kissing Miss Teen USA.

CONNER: Katie Blair is a wonderful Miss Teen USA. I hate that she got dragged into all of this. She's a good girl.

MOOS: Good girls, bad girls. What would Santa say?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: All right, what would Santa say? She looked a little like Jimmy Swaggart there in the tearful part. That has to be it for this hour.

MCEDWARDS: Santa would say enough. I'm Colleen McEdwards.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy and this is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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